Bonne Nuit
by michellehail
Summary: It was times like these that Petra felt the most at ease next to him.


_The cicadas are awfully loud tonight._ Levi thought as he raised his head from his paperwork, watching as a soft breeze made the flame in his lantern flicker.

Sighing, he shuffled the papers into a neat stack and set them back on the table, then stretched his body silently, hearing his joints pop a little.

Levi leaned back in his chair, holding the small, delicate tea cup in his hand. It had been months since the last expedition outside the walls. Though his body ached for action, for more of those beastly titans to be killed, sometimes it wasn't so bad to have a break. After all, no expeditions also meant fewer casualties for the survey corps. Or rather, a delay in the number of casualties.

He parts his chapped lips to sip at his tea, sighing as the warm liquid soothed his dry throat. It tasted a little different today, but Levi says nothing, continuing to take small sips whilst relaxing in his chair.

"Corporal." A certain red-headed girl knocks before entering, closing the door behind her. Levi doesn't turn immediately, and continues to sip his tea.

"Ah, um... Corporal Levi, I assume you're done for the day?" She smiles, eyeing the stack of papers all signed and approved. "You've worked hard."

There's a long silence as the young girl watches him sip from his cup, staring out his window into the distance. A gentle breeze passes through the room, threatening to send the stack of papers into a mess.

Petra quickly slams her hand on top of the stack, only to find it atop Levi's instead. Blushing, she draws them away with a small apology.

"It sure is chilly tonight." Levi says, finally breaking the silence. He doesn't look up at her, but concentrates on sorting the papers once again.

"Yes it is." Petra replies, watching his hands arrange the pieces of paper neatly. Calloused as they were, they belonged to humanity's strongest soldier after all. But there were times when they were soft and gentle too.

Times that went way back into her early days when she has just entered the survey corps and had completed a couple of expeditions outside the walls. She had survived, but her comrades had not.

.

.

.

_She was a crying mess when he found her, crouched around the corner of the barracks. _

_He didn't say much, but he didn't need to either, merely wrapping his arms around her shoulders and letting her cry till her heart eased._

_"The dead have it easy, don't they? It's the ones who live who have to deal with all the grief and sorrow." Levi spared her a sideward glance after she had calmed down. _

_She nods solemnly, sniffling a little. _

_"But you're strong. If not stronger than before. And we have to be. There's a whole world waiting for us out there."_

.

.

.

Petra smiles fondly at the memory, leaning against his desk as she finds her eyes traveling to his face. His mouth was set in a line of indifference as per usual, and his familiar haircut framed his now thinner face. She notes that his dark eye circles were more prominent, and his cheeks appeared to be more sunken. Petra frowned disapprovingly, mostly attributing it to the stress from his work and position.

"Corporal," she chides, "it's getting late. You should get some rest." _In fact you should get more rest_, she thinks.

Levi spares a glance in her direction, seemingly about to say something in protest like _'shouldn't you get some rest too?'_, but finds himself stifling a yawn instead.

Petra beams as he finally stands and makes his way out of the study. She follows him down the hallway to his room, the lantern giving their surroundings a soft, orange glow.

_It's like the color of her hair._ Levi muses himself, finally arriving at his room. He set the lantern down at his bed stand and walked over to his window, drawing the curtains and letting the moonlight illuminate his room further.

Petra feels her heartbeat quicken as she watched him quietly. It had been months since she had confessed to him and though he didn't flat out reject her, it's not like he accepted her confession either. But slowly, she found them spending more and more time together, even to the point of them sharing their nights together.

Petra blushes lightly; she's nervous and not used to anything like this, but it's not like she wants to get used to it either. Once you got used to something, you get bored of it.

She's about to say something to Levi but stops abruptly, watching him strip to his undershirt and boxers, hanging his uniform neatly into his closet. He does this nonchalantly, not really caring about how her face was now a deep shade of scarlet.

The redhead awkwardly makes her way next to him by the window, turning her gaze to see what he was so entranced by. The moon was full tonight, and the sky was a deep blue, with stars scattered and twinkling all over the night sky.

"It's beautiful." She breathes, a smile ghosting her lips. She looks back at Levi, amused at how captivated he was by the night. Suddenly, he sighs and sinks himself into the desk chair, sinking his head into his hands, massaging his temples in a circular motion.

"L-Levi?" Petra asks worriedly, crouching down in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

His shoulders tense up to her touch and she jerks her hand away. He lifts his head up, and she stares deep into his eyes that were filled deeply with remorse, as if he was going to drown in it. "I'm sorry." He whispers.

"W-wha-?! It's okay, it's nothing!" Petra lets out a small laugh and stands up. She tugs at his arm, guiding him to the bed. She lifts up the covers for him to slide in, but Levi just sits himself on the edge of the bed, still and unmoving.

Petra gives a small smile, feeling her heart sink, a tight knot forming in her throat.

"Corporal, come on, it's time for you to sleep." _Tomorrow will be a better day._

"I can't."

Slowly, he turns to look her in the eye. His eyes were dull and blank, lifeless and aimless.

"I can't." He repeats

"I'm waiting for Petra."

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry if it's a little confusing! (╯︵╰,)

I feel that some ghosts or spirits just won't want to believe that they've passed on and they just want to continue living their lives as per normal.  
But sometimes things can't go back to the way you want them to no matter how hard you try.

Petra finds herself lingering around Levi way past her time. But even though Levi know she's there he doesn't want to accept the fact that she's gone. Instead, he keeps waiting for a Petra that's never coming back.

Sorry Levi but she's gone (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

Inspired by my bff's dream sequence that she had one night.

She drew the really awesome cover pic heheh

Thank you for reading!


End file.
